BERD PolyLight Spokes – The Future of Cycling

Welcome to the future of cycling. At Berd, we have engineered an innovative bicycle spoke to bring your cycling to a new level.
Berd PolyLight spokes leverage the latest advances in polymer technology to create the world’s lightest spoke while maintaining
exceptional strength, aerodynamics, and durability.

PolyLight spokes are significantly lighter than the lightest high-end spokes available. Despite their incredibly low weight, PolyLight spokes are also extremely strong. In fact, they are stronger than most spokes on the market today

BERD PolyLight Spoke Composition

Hover over circles to see properties

Berd PolyLight spokes are compatible with all standard hub and rim connections, so they can be built into any wheelset. Further, they can be trued and maintained in the same way as steel spokes.

PolyLight spokes significantly improve the damping of road vibrations, which makes for a noticeably smoother ride and reduces rider fatigue. Now you can rider faster and further!

Fatigue is a process by which materials fail over time when subject to changing loads. Metal spokes have a finite fatigue life in bicycle wheels because of the changing load from the wheel spinning and from hitting bumps in the road. PolyLight spokes are less suseptible to this type of failure due to the superior properties of the polymer from which they are made.

Strength and weight are not everything. PolyLight Spokes are also designed to take anything you can throw at them. They are impervious to UV exposure and moisture and resistant to general wear and tear and impact.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Berd Spokes are flexible, so how can you make a wheel out of them?

To answer that question, we need to discuss how wheels are built. Each spoke in a wheel is pulled in tension during the wheel building process – in fact, each spoke is under ~50 - 100 kgf, depending on particular wheel build. When riding the bike, spokes at the bottom of the wheel de-tension to support the weight of the rider, but because they are pretensioned, they never leave tensile loading – which means they are never compressed or slack. Because of this, flexible spokes function equivalently to metal spokes.

How do PolyLight Spokes connect to the wheel?

Each end of Berd spokes has a connection suitable for use with standard wheels. On the hub side of the spoke, an eyelet is pulled through the hub hole and secured with a small rod or interlaced with another spoke. On the wheel rim side, a threaded stainless steel rod is screwed into a nipple. Custom hubs and rims are not required to build wheel with Berd spokes.

Can I race with Berd Spokes?

Yes! Berd spokes are legal for racing. In fact, the UCI, which regulates professional cycling, has specifically approved Berd spokes, so you can race PolyLight spokes from local crits to the Tour de France. Send us a postcard!